AMED
In 2007 the Lice district of Amed; Fikri Demirbaş (53), his mother Zeynep Demirbaş (76), Mahmut Öner (74), Mevlüt Dağtaş (64) and Abdulhamit Dağtaş (63) lost their lives in a civilian vehicle crushed by an armoured vehicle.
After the accident, Lice Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the incident. The prosecution decided to discontinue the investigation, citing the report of the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK), that the civilian vehicle driver Fikri Demirbaş as “fundamentally flawed”.
Three years after the accident that occurred on a highway, the prosecution decided that the victim Fikri Demirbaş was faulty but a case had not been opened as he was not alive.
Objection to the decision of non-prosecution
The lawyer of Mevlüt Dağtaş, Hatice Demir, among others appealed against the Magistrate Criminal Judgment regarding the decision not to prosecute.
Hatice pointed out that the appeal was based solely on the accident report, and highlighted the existing evidence in the file. The photos which were taken by the scene investigation team, and the accident report, were biased and concealment of the incident.
Hatice shared that, at the scene, “there are wheel marks, findings, the condition of the road, the slope, the routes of vehicles involved in the accident which should be examined together”
‘ARMORED VEHICLE TRAVELLING AT EXCESSIVE SPEEDS COULD NOT STOP’
Stating that the road where the accident took place was inclined and dangerous, Hatice said in her petition that the accident was caused by excessive speed and stated the following: “The armoured cobra vehicle was travelling at excessive speeds on this inclined road, in addition to the load and technical characteristics of the vehicle, the view, the road and traffic conditions required, by acting contrary to the rules while going downhill, lost control of the steering wheel, suddenly braking, but could not stop the vehicle in time due to excessive speed.
Passing from one lane to the opposite side, our clients were crushed by taking under the vehicle and rounded stockade. It was understood that the tire tracks at the accident site were quite wide, that this large wheel belonged to the armoured vehicle causing the accident, and that the tire tracks of the car were not as wide.
There are no interruptions in the tire tracks of the armoured vehicle, which means that it does not actually divert from the car’s lane. If the car had come out of the lane as stated in the accident report, there would have been an interruption in the armoured vehicle’s brake track.”
They objected to the accident detection report during the investigation process, but despite the objection, the prosecutor’s office and the ATK and the accident detection evidence is against the law.
Hatice said that the investigation was incomplete and inadequate.
REQUEST FOR PUBLIC PROCEDURE
Hatice demanded, as per the petition, an effective and sufficient investigation to carry out the tests at the scene and an expert report. She requested recorded footages and images of security cameras and a sample of the 72 A 0428 plated armoured vehicle.
She demanded a public trial be filed against the Dakyanus military base and sent to the file to the Head of the Forensic Medicine Department of Istanbul University.
